By Derek DeCloet

The paint was barely dry on the University of B.C.'s newest school when its name was sullied. Not that faculty or students at the Sing Tao School of Journalism had done anything wrong. But three executives of the newspaper empire that gave the school its name were sentenced to jail in Hong Kong for committing one of the publishing industry's worst crimes: defrauding advertisers by inflating circulation figures. One prominent executive not jailed was Sally Aw, chairman of Sing Tao , heiress to her father's Tiger Balm fortune and Sing Tao's public face at UBC. Ms. Aw was named in a report by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) as a co-conspirator in the circulation fraud scheme , yet prosecutors claimed they had insufficient evidence to convict her. Pro-democracy activists believe that Ms. Aw got off because of her connections to the mainland Communist government. All that is known for certain is that she is a member of the People's Political Consultativ e Conference, a Chinese advisory body. The financially-troubled Ms. Aw agreed last month to sell her 50% stake in Sing Tao Holdings, part-owner of Vancouver's Sing Tao Daily and numerous other papers, for HK$262 million ($53 million). (The Toronto Star purchased a 55% interest in Ms. Aw's Canadian papers for $20 million last year.) Yet UBC remains saddled with the now-disgraced Sing Tao name after accepting Ms. Aw's $3-million donation to build the journalism school .
To some the Sing Tao debacle shows the perils of allowing foreign businesses -- especially those connected to Communist dictatorships - - to buy their way into Canadian universities. Veteran Maclean's columnist Allan Fotheringham, a UBC alumnus, is one of these critics. "[This] proud graduate does not like to be conned by overseas carnies trying to purchase respectability," fumed The Foth in one column. In another, he wrote, "Why, if UBC really needs a journalism school, couldn't it find money from rich Canadians for such a project? Beats me." Donna Logan, director of the new journalism school, explains that UBC tried for 15 years to find funding in Canada, but could not. As for the comments of Mr. Fotheringham-who is no fan of journalism schools anyway, believing that the craft is as impossible to teach as sex-Ms. Logan implies tha t something more sinister may be at work. "Some people have suggested there's an element of racism in his remarks," she alleges. Others say they are not so much bothered by the national origin of th e sponsor, but by the practice of universities naming entire schools or faculties after corporations. Phil Resnick, a professor of political science at UBC who sat on a university committee that studied the issue of corporate sponsorship and naming rights, believes that while it is acceptable for buildings and scholarships to be named after companies , academic departments and faculties should not be-and Sing Tao shows why. "Do you really want to have a core institution so caught up with the politics of the individuals [who sponsor it]?" he says. The urge, however, is often irresistible. Not surprisingly, business faculties have been leading the way; names like the Richard Ivey School of Business and the Bonham Centre for Finance are increasingly common on Canadian university campuses. Chris Dornan, director of the school of
journalism at Carleton University in Ottawa, says there is no reason other departments should not do the same. Although Carleton's journalism school does not bear a corporate name, the school does receive financial hel p from the Southam newspaper chain and the Rogers cable television empire, and Prof. Dornan does not feel either relationship has impeded the school's independence. "The fact that BC Report takes advertising doesn't compromise the mission of the magazine," says Prof. Dornan. "The tric k is to ensure the autonomy and integrity of the university as a research and teaching institution is intact." Ms. Logan says Sing Tao has given her school complete academic independence. But what about its reputation? The school has not had a chance to establish one of its own, having opened last just September . It has just 17 students and two full-time staff members, although Ms. Logan says it will eventually have 50 students. "I'm sure everyone would prefer it hadn't happened," she says of the fraud scandal. "[But] it certainly hasn't slowed us down."